Daily Mail Becomes Pravda

Our free and fearless press, we are routinely assured, is of independent mind and spirit, and at the opposite pole from all those propaganda sheets so beloved of authoritarian régimes in countries that are less free than the UK. But the claim has, for some time, worn thin with those observing the machinations at the Northcliffe House bunker, where the Daily Mail has frequently resorted to playing the Tory mouthpiece.

Hence castigating judges as “ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE”, a denunciation straight out of the Soviet-era playbook. But even those labouring in the service of the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre and his Sidney Falco-like editor Ted Verity could tell the difference between the Mail and Pravda. Well, until this morning, they could.

Because today the Daily Mail has gone full Politburo, telling readers “KREMLIN: BORIS IS OUR No1 ENEMY”. Vlad the Invader will be happy. There was more. “THE Kremlin branded Boris Johnson public enemy number one last night as the Prime Minister said Ukraine can ‘certainly’ win the war”. You are not as stupid as you look, English!

Do go on. “The extraordinary Russian statement [surely ‘standard issue propaganda’? - Ed] came after Mr Johnson pushed Nato leaders to step up military and economic support for Ukraine - and crack down on Vladimir Putin’s vast gold reserves”. Vlad’s spokesman was quoted word for word. “As for Mr Johnson, we see him as the most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian … it will lead to a foreign policy dead-end”.

I warned you English, we know how to deal with counter-revolution! But just as this servile dictation-taking was being gleefully pored over by special directorates of Moscow Centre, there was a realisation by anti-party elements within the Dacre dacha that copying and pasting Kremlin propaganda did not show the Mail in such a good light.

Sadly, the revisionist version of history isn’t too clever either, with the Mail telling readers “Boris Johnson rejected Kremlin claims that he is 'anti-Russian' today - and joked that even his name is popular there. The Prime Minister used a Nato press conference to dismiss personal Moscow attacks linked to growing sanctions on its economy and increasing military aid for Ukraine”. So he’s not “anti-Russian”. But hang on a minute.

Isn’t he supposed to be “anti-Russian” right now? Oh hang on, here’s the “clarification”: “speaking this afternoon in Brussels, Mr Johnson said he was no anti-Russian but 'deeply hostile' towards leader Vladimir Putin … He became serious as he added: 'But I think what we all agree is that what Vladimir Putin is doing, the way he's leading Russia at the moment, is utterly catastrophic, that his invasion of Ukraine is inhuman and barbaric”.

Bozo comes to the Mail’s rescue. And there was more from the PM. “And the conduct of that invasion is now moving into the type of behaviour that, as I said before, we haven't seen in the continent of Europe for 80 years [77 years, more like], and it's horrific … So you can be sympathetic towards ordinary Russians, who are being so badly led, but you can be deeply hostile to the decisions of Vladimir Putin”.

That still doesn’t excuse the Mail from turning into Pravda this morning. Another example of why Paul Dacre should have retired years ago. Along with his double, er, counting.

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